It was a calm winter night in the small town. There was almost no one out at this late hour, practically midnight as the moon illuminated the small town square, the street lamps at the border of the park paling in comparison to its reflected light. On a bench near the frozen fountain, there was a smallish figure, alone late in the night. It was a small gray wolf boy, about eight or nine years old, looking up at the moon, holding on to what appeared to be a stuffed black furred bunny. He wore blue and white striped footie pajamas, black snow boots, and a thick blue winter jacket over it all. Judging by the late hour, the boy's attire, and how he didn't appear to be distressed, you could draw one possible conclusion from this situation. 


The poor wolf cub had run away from home this night. 


He was talking to his stuffed bunny, hugging it tight against his chest. "... It will be fine, Ashy... No, I am not making a mistake... I know you will protect me..."


Despite the late hour, the wolf child had attracted the attention of another late night traveler. An older man, a slightly chubby hyena man in his early 30s, dressed more appropriately for the winter weather. He had noticed the wolf cub alone in the park, and decided to caution approaching. There was a slight unevenness in his step, as he had just left the bar in town for the evening, but he was mostly coherent. He sat himself down next to the cub. "it's a bit late to be out here all by yourself, kid."


The cub looked to the yeen, with an innocence to his expression and voice. "I know. I'm running away from home. My parents are super mean to me, so I wanna find a new home."


The yeen looked over the boy a moment, seeming to gain some more interest in his young subject. "Well, you can't just sleep in the park. You'll catch a cold. Or worse."


"No, I won't. Wolves are built for the cold! But, if you are that worried about me, then what do you think I should sleep?"


He pondered this a moment, then suggested. "I can take you home with me. I will take good care of you, kid..."


His eyes lit up. "You will?! Oh. Thank you mister!" He held out one hand to shake the yeen's hand. "My name is Sander. And my bunny's name is Ashy."


The older yeen took the cub's paw and shook it. "It is a pleasure to meet you Sander. My name is Orlando." He stopped shaking and loosened his grip, but the cub did not let go. He looked up at the grown yeen expectantly. "Oh, you want to go now, kid?" 


Sander nodded. "It would be nice. But I will only go if Ashy can come with us."


The yeen rolled his eyes, and gave an amused grin. "Sure, Ashy can come too. It will be like a sleepover. But I only have one bed, so..." He trailed off, hoping for the cub to make the suggestion, to take the blame off of him.


"Well, we can share a bed together! That way, we can keep each other warm. I know hyenas like warmer places, right? I could cuddle up to you in bed and warm you up."


He grinned. "That sounds like an amazing idea." He began to lead the younger wolf away from the town commons, and down the sidewalk towards downtown. As they walked, Sander hummed a tune to himself innocently, occasionally reading out the names of street signs, which the yeen found adorably innocent. After a few minutes, they reached an apartment complex off the main road.


Sander looked at the sign for the apartment complex. "Whoa, this place is nice. Riverside apartments! Can you see the river from your room?"


He shook his head. "No, my apartment faces away from the river." He leads the younger cub up to one of the ground level rooms, unlocking the door.


"Your house number is twenty one? Heh, it's like that funny internet video." He then walked inside, tentatively. He then grinned and kicked off his boots by the entrance. "Wow, this is a nice place, mister."


"Thank you. Sorry it's a bit messy. I don't have many visitors here, and I live alone." The yeen hung up his jacket and kicked off his boots. Sanded excitedly explored the house for a moment, before finding the Hyena's bedroom. 


It was quite a mess. Dirty laundry all over the floor, some take out boxes and cheap lite beers on a computer desk, where a laptop was still on, a stained bedspread with the blankets thrown about. On the computer screen, it was an image slideshow of the yeen's photos. Among them, there were several pictures from parks nearby, taken of young furs from awkward angles, playing sports or having fun.


Orlando saw this and almost pushed Sander out of the way to shut his laptop. "O-oh, I can explain that!"


Sander looked stunned for a moment, then he gave the yeen a bit of a grin. "I think I know what's going on." He stepped closer to the older hyena, and gave him a gentle pat on the arm. "You really like kids. Like, a lot."


He seemed surprised by this, but then gave a bit of a smile. "Oh. Yeah. Yes I do! Quite a lot, actually." He blushed some, then took the pup's hand. "Are you… Are you okay with that?"


Sander grinned, his very sharp teeth showing, his canines quite white and pointy. "Of course, silly! Think I'd still be here if I was scared of that kind of thing?" He then let go of the yeen's hand, and dropped his backpack. He unbuttoned the first button of his onesie, and smiled. "How about you close your eyes, and I give you a surprise?"


Orlando nodded, brimming with excitement now. He covered his eyes with his handpaws. "Okay, tell me when you're ready!" The yeen couldn't believe it. He heard the boy shift around, undressing. Waiting in anticipation, he thought he heard someone else's footsteps, but before he could say anything, he felt a gentle prick on his neck, and someone grabbed his arms and pulled them behind his back. 


The yeen turned his head to see a tall, twenty something year old rabbit giving him a death stare. He hissed out some words with disgust. "You're a monster." Orlando tried to get some words out, but he felt a wave of exhaustion overtake him. Before he knew what was happening, his legs gave out under him, his body relaxed, and he lost consciousness.


---


The bunny eased the unconscious hyena on to the bed, grunting a bit as he laid him down. "Man, this bastard is heavy."


"Just get his arm prepped and exposed, Ashy." The young pup opened his bag, grabbing what appears to be a sterile needle and a few empty blood collection bags. Meanwhile, the bun undressed the yeen, tying off his arm for a moment before wiping it with a sanitary wipe. 


"You know, I hate doing this, Sander. Can't we just steal from hospitals again?"


"Right now, the hospitals are in such short supply of blood as is thanks to the virus. We can't ethically take that blood." As he said this, he gently felt for a vein on the yeen's arm.


"I just think it's weird to steal blood from people like this." 


Sander stuck the vein, and started to drain blood from the yeen's arm. "The man is a predator and a monster. Trust me, his blood is worth more than he is. The coven needs blood, and this is what we gotta do to get it."


"Still… Next time, can you at least make me an action figure? Being a doll is a little humiliating."


"The doll sells innocence better." They waited a moment, changing the bag a couple times. "There. One and a quarter liters. That'll satisfy the guild for a week or two without killing him."


Ashy looked confused for a second. "Why not just kill him and take all his blood? He is a pedophile after all."


"This way we can come back and take his blood multiple times. That's why I had to memorize the address by reciting the directions out loud. We'll take from him every few weeks, then pass a tip to the police once we no longer need his blood."


"This is still super risky, Sander."


He bandaged up the yeen, cleaning the blood and putting away the collected red fluid. "I've been tricking perverts for their blood for over seven centuries. I know you're new to the guild and I got turned at nine, but don't forget I'm the coven's elder."


"Okay, Sander." The two packed up, leaving the drained yeen alone in his room, leaving his home, making their way back to the coven to distribute their score to their fellow vampires.